Does it piss you off when a "DJ"…

D-Jam, post: 15922, member: 3 wrote: To me, this is the usual “blame the owner/manager who booked him” rationale in my mind.

Unfortunately, if the crowd loves him and has no issue with what we see as “bad mixing”, then the market has spoken and we can’t do anything about that. This is like Gladiator, where the crowd holds the true vote.

I remember a hair stylist in Chicago who could not play well at all. He borrowed someone’s CDJs, mixer, and just went at it in his own sloppy fashion. Promoters would book him over and over though…because he had loads of friends in the scene who came out for him. Face it…if you’re the village idiot who can bring 500 people out somewhere, you’re more valuable to a promoter than the genius savant who perfected his DJ skills into an artform (but he has no fans).

I remember a guy who worked at an ad agency who just decided to start DJing one day. He would spend chunks of his work day on Beatport, exploring and buying tech house and prog. He learned basic beatmatching and would go out several nights a week. On weekends he’d be out all night into afterhours, where he’d hang out and get high with promoters. Not to mention when he did get booked he would get 20-30 people from his work and social circle to come out. Suddenly he’s opening for big names because he played the game, while guys pushing demos for years still couldn’t get a shot. He ended up quitting DJing a few years ago when his wife wanted him to stop so they could start a family.

Do you see what I’m getting at here? “DJ talent” (in my opinion) is a MYTH. We all want to believe that the guy who spends a load of passionate time picking the newest and most innovative music (and then spends more time perfecting his programming and blending) will be the one who becomes a superstar. Yet we see it’s the local socially popular guys getting bookings, and the guy with a funky sense of style who burns a turntable on stage becomes a superstar.

This is why I stopped pushing to play gigs, why I sound negative and cynical in my responses on the industry and scene, and why I push you guys on marketing and branding. I see guys now doing wild stage antics, making funky costumes, and having plenty of photoshoots with some unique image. These guys seemingly are blowing up while the basic DJs who work hard to craft their skills are left behind.

The crowd is king…that’s how you play this game. Win the crowd, and you win the game. If you’re the one the crowds come out for and will leave a venue if you leave…then you win. Promoters will book you. You all need to realize most promoters see DJs as a commodity and investment. They want to put their money behind the guy who either brings then a crowd or who won’t try to be innovative, but will keep their crowd happy no matter how lame and cheesey the music might get.

This is also why I never fell into the “vinyl purist” mode, and why I don’t see sync as a bad thing. The only people who really care about this are DJs. The people who really count in all this (the crowd and promoters) don’t care about it at all.

Sorry for the hard truth. Now take this truth and find your way to game the system into winning the big prize.

D-Jam… im sorry dude…but while some of what you say is true.. some of what you said is just plain b/s… i built my rep on hard work playin dives and makin my own nights…

dont be dismayed or let any of this ruin your dreams… if you have to … pony up sum cash outta pocket on a venue deposit.. and start you own thing… nothing is impossible… it just takes hard work and determination… and a lil creativeity

durtyjerzy609, post: 15925, member: 1487 wrote: i built my rep on hard work playin dives and makin my own nights…

You won the crowd. I’m not saying one “must” become a local tabloid celebrity, get on a reality show, or spend thousands on a funky suit and helmet…but regardless, you won the crowd over based on what you wanted to sell them as a DJ.

When I say that the idea of “DJ talent” is a myth, I mainly mean there are too many ways to judge a DJ that clash with one another. Look at the fights all over about guys on laptops only VS guys on turntables. What is the “measure” of talent then? The only commonality is crowd reaction and the size of a fan base. A guy you think totally sucks could be deemed as “talented” by hundreds more.

Moreso…we would also have to dive in to the “why” you got a crowd? Was it just your DJing? Or perhaps your promotional savvy? Or the overall vibe of the event? What if you found out that you brought 1000 people into a venue, rocked it, but found out they really didn’t care one bit about your DJing? That they wanted a space to take drugs and zone out?

What if you found masses of people claiming you have no talent as a DJ? Is it true then? I think not in all honesty…but it shows why “DJ talent” is very hard to measure and standardize.

Roll this back to the beginning. If the Winamp/iTunes guy gets labeled “untalented hack” by us, but the crowd raves about him and calls him a “talented DJ”…who’s right then?

It’s all perspective.

In my past i’ve had alot of similare scenarios, my first sugesstion is build the interest in the venue. Try to make yourself a secondary bonus. If you touts the venues finer points, the management will love you for it. Once you have a semi-established crowd, get them involved. Make them feel as though the night is for them. Start a FB page for your night, and ask what they’d like to see. Sit down with the managements and come up with various different drink options and themes for different nights. College kids love a good toga party or pimps n ho’s throw down. Invite dj friends to play one hour special sets. If you get the crowd involved and start to make every week an event, and not your standard “lets go out get sloshed and listen to music night” you will find your crowd will grow quickly and word will get around. I did one night called “dapper daegos” we all dressed like proper old skool gangsters, i played the theme from goodfellas and the god father and offered drinks specials to match. You would believe what some of the girls showed up in 😉 If the venue management what to make a proper run at the other bar, you gotta take risks and offer more than they do. Slinging around free mix cd’s at the bar will help as well so have a few on hand to give away, include a flyer with each one so they remeber who you are and where they saw you. It works a right treat. unfortuneatly, ya gotta whore yourself for a bit, but stay true, keep your shit on lock, and be prepared to take a beating for a bit… but like field of dreams… build it and they will come. Good luck

Have you actually talked to the bar people to see if you got bumped for the other two guys? I’ll tell you that from personal experience, sometimes the person updating the FB page isn’t always up to speed. I’ve been booked for things that FB guy didn’t know about (and touted their Saturday DJ for my Wednesday show, only to retract it later on in the week).

How much money did you burn on promotion, if you don’t mind my asking? That’s bogus behavior on their end, sorry if you got burned like that.